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UNESCO at Internet Governance Forum 2011

The 6th meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 27 to 30 September 2011. UNESCO is organizing three workshops on: freedom of expression and social networks, ethical dimension and access through local content. UNESCO will also take this opportunity to launch a research study on local content in collaboration with OECD and ISOC, and to present the Organization’s reflection and analysis on the Internet in an Open Forum.

The Internet is a key instrument for the fulfillment of UNESCO’s mission and in particular, to build the four underlying principles of knowledge societies: Freedom of expression, universal access to information and knowledge, respect for cultural and linguistic diversity and quality education for all.

At this IGF UNESCO will strongly advocate for freedom of expression on the internet as engine for change and social development, and will convene all stakeholders on the importance of local content and languages for a truly accessible Internet. UNESCO key message throughout the Forum will be: Internet empowering people: Access, Diversity, Freedom of Expression.

Supporting the multistakeholder approach of the IGF process, UNESCO will organize three workshops dedicated to the issues of freedom of expression, social networks, local content and ethical dimensions, to follow up and further develop the thread of discussions at the previous IGF. In the light of their relevance and multistakeholder component, two UNESCO workshops have been selected by the IGF secretariat as ‘feeder’ workshop, and will contribute to two main session events.

UNESCO will also present the result of a research conducted in collaboration with ISOC and OECD on access and local content as well as the Organization’s reflection and analysis on the Internet.

In addition, UNESCO will install an exhibition stand throughout the forum at IGF Village, to present the organization’s overall activities and programmes.